Fabio Negao

The long-running dispute is now over. After over a year of continual debate regarding Fedor Emelianenko’s perennial status as the world’s top heavyweight, the former PRIDE title holder answered the call in fighting his first top-ranked opponent in nearly three years, and won, in decisive fashion.

Emelianenko quickly knocked down and submitted former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds, capping off a night of exciting action at Affliction Clothing’s inaugural event, which took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California in front of a host of notable athletes and celebrities.

Sylvia literally never even got started in the fight. After circling each other for a brief moment, Emelianenko stunned and dropped Sylvia with a flurry of left and rights. Fedor quickly pounced on the 6’8 Miletich Fighting Systems product, pounding away with hammer fists until Sylvia gave up his back, allowing Emelianenko to sink in the rear naked choke for the impressive finish.

After the bout, post-fight interviewer and former referee “Big” John McCarthy asked the Russian who he’d like to fight next. His answer then stepped into the ring in the form of current embattled UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture, who is currently seeking legal help in the courts in his quest to fight Emelianenko before his impending retirement.

“I always thought that the day where I would have to fight Randy would come,” Emelianenko said after the fight with the help of a translator. “It would be a true honor to fight him and I hope that we will be able to work things out in order to make it happen.”

We will be going live at 7:00 PM ET with live results of tonight’s Affliction: Banned, the inaugural mixed martial arts show for the popular California-based clothing company, which will take place this evening at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

The show features a main event years in the making between former PRIDE title holder and perennial top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and five-time UFC champion Tim Sylvia. Other notable fights on the card include a rematch between Josh Barnett and Pedro Rizzo, a sure-fire war on the feet between Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell, and the return to active competition of former Olympic wrestler Matt Lindland as he faces Brazilian submission wizard Fabio Negao.

Be sure to leave comments throughout the night. Details live results are after the jump.

The official-weigh in results for tomorrow night’s Affliction: Banned event, which takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, are below. All fighters successfully made weight with the exception of Justin Levens, who weighed-in four pounds over the middleweight limit. However it’s unknown whether or not his bout against Ray Lazama is being fought a catch-weight or not.

In more unfortunate news, the scheduled bout between PRIDE veteran Aleksander Emelianenko and one-time UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul Buentello has been scrapped. According to the California State Athletic Commission, Emelianenko failed to meet the necessary licensing requirements. A replacement opponent for Buentello will not be able to be found in time.

Tickets still remain on sale for the event. The pay-per-view portion of the card will begin at 10 PM ET and FOX Sports Net will be airing three preliminary bouts tomorrow night as well. The promotion intends to televise as many fights as possible, including those prelims that will not be featured on FSN, which will act as swing bouts for the PPV.